Tamarindo, and the beginning of our Costa Rica exploring

To travel around Costa Rica with public transportation is not the easiest or fastest way, but for sure it is cheap compared to the other methods. We wanted to come to Tamarindo from Sugar Beach close to Potrero. First we were supposed to take a taxi, or actually this time the shuttle that took the hotel's housekeeping. Edda had asked and got the information about the trip to Tamarindo that was as following: "First take a taxi to Potrero next to a football field and stand under the big tree. A bus to Santa Cruz drives there by, and you want to get off in Huacas in front of Banco Popular. From there you walk a bit back to the next road, because the bus to Tamarindo drives that way, or you can take a "collectivo" ride (locals taking several people at a time to different towns for a small fee)." If you have gotten used to good public transportation, you can imagine that this system may feel a bit confusing ;) Well, we got actually a free ride from the Sugar Beach receptionist because the housekeeping shuttle was stuck somewhere.

The Bus Stop and the bus in Potrero

We got from Potrero to Huacas easily and from there we took the "collectivo" and it worked well. The bus from Potrero to Huacas (around 14km) was 550 Colonas per person and the "collectivo" from Huacas to Tamarindo (around 12km) was 1000 Colonas per person. A taxi from Sugar Beach to Tamarindo would have costed around $70 - $80 according to Hotel Sugar Beach.

In Tamarindo we stayed at Coral Reef Surf Hostel. The location is great, about in the middle of everything and only 3-4 min walk from the beach. The hang around area and rooms are cozy and relaxed but the kitchen, showers and toilets are relatively dirty. Also, few rooms have windows to the "lobby" where at least during weekends guests had parties just under the window and you can guess how good the sound isolation is around here :P so remember earplugs if you stay here and want to sleep ;) We had a very nice girl at the reception that moved us from the noisy room to the honey moon "suite". She was joking about the honey moon but was laughing when we told that this IS our honey moon :D 

Tamarindo is a  relatively small town. The main street is next to the beach and it's around 1,5 km long. You can find surf shops, souvenir shops, car rentals, restaurants, hotels and few grocery stores but not much more. The beach is long and during low tide also very big, but during high tide it shrinks to a long, narrow sand path :D 

Street view at Main Street

Overview picture of Tamarindo

If you are planning a budget trip to Costa Rica you should consider it twice! It is very expensive here. We thought Finland is expensive but we hadn't been in a Costa Rican grocery store :P A package of white toast, small package of cheese and 100g of salami was over $20! This is why we have been eating our breakfast and lunch at Mandarina Tropical Juice Bar. 

We heard from few locals that Tamarindo is one of the most expensive places in CR because it is so popular among tourists. We have been surfing for few days (more in the next post), walking around and had a few great dinners here. One was Bamboo Sushi Club which was on an inner yard and looked really Japanese. Food was delicious but rather expensive. The other one, Wok N Roll, was recommended to us by Edda's friend Pia. We thought we couldn't go there since it was closed for several days during our stay. We were lucky, and it opened on our last day, because the food was delicious also here!

Our table at Bamboo Sushi Club

Our 4-night visit here in Tamarindo is coming to its end so it's time to get a car, because we are going on some serious safari cruising around CR for the rest of our time here :P We browsed on internet to find a cheap 4wd but cheap is not the right word, 'not extremely expensive' is better. We went also to three different car rental companies and asked for an offer for 22 days with full insurance. Two gave a bit of discount and we got also a mobile WiFi on the top. We took the car from Thrifty. If you rent a car in CR, remember that the rent of the car is not expensive, but the mandatory insurance is. The car is only 1/4 of the whole price. Tomorrow (6.9.2016) we start our road trip around CR and our next stop is Playa Santa Teresa. 

Stay tuned for more, Pura Vida! ;)